I do not own Sailor Moon or Harry Potter. This is a challenge from Mae-E. I'm her ghostwriter.

From out of the Past and Into Future Dreams

Chapter 2

Searching

Around ten the next morning, Darien woke up but he stayed in bed. He stared at the ceiling and thought about his conversation of Stratus' reincarnation. Why was he so angry with him? What happened to him to cause him to stop trusting his dreams?

Darien groaned and sat up, rubbing his head. Last nights dreams were still blurry and but at least he knew what he was dreaming about. Darien had tried to pay attention to detail and make it clearer but it was difficult. Time to time he knew he was dreaming and then he felt as if he was really in the memory. Perhaps it was the effect of the sleeping pill he took the night before. Darien turned around on his bed and reached for his phone. He had to call Serena and tell her what happened. He wouldn't have time to go to the scout meeting himself as he had to get to work soon. He was already late.

He punched in Serena's number and waited for her to pick up. "Come on, Serena."

On the third ring her brother picked up. "Sammy, it's Darien. Is your sister there?"

"Yeah," Sammy said in a bored voice. "Hold on."

Darien could hear Sammy set the receiver down on the counter and walk off calling for Serena. "Meatball Head—your boyfriend is on the phone!"

"Fiancé," Darien muttered.

Within seconds, Darien heard the phone pick up again. "Darien?"

"Doesn't your brother know we're engaged?" Darien inquired.

"Yeah, he does," Serena said, "You honestly wouldn't think I'd keep it a big secret, would you?" she giggled and Darien could picture her admiring the engagement ring her got her.

"I heard him call me your boyfriend."

"I guess he's just not used to it," Serena said softly. "Well, what's up?"

"I wanted to tell you about my dream," Darien replied.

"Okay, I'll be right over," Serena said brightly. "We can--,"

"No, you can't," Darien interrupted, "I've got to get to work. I just wanted to tell you so you can tell the others."

"Oh," Serena's voice became sad. "I see."

"You know I'd rather spend all day with you, Serena."

"I know. Well, what happened in your dream?" Serena asked as she leaned against the wall. "Did you see Stratus' face?"

"No," Darien replied, "it was still blurry. I tried doing what Trista said—calling out for Stratus."

"It worked?" Serena asked hopefully.

"Yeah, but the kid was mad," Darien explained, "He didn't want to talk to me. He told me to leave me alone and he didn't believe a word I told him. I saw his face for a split second but all I could tell was how angry he looked."

"I wonder why he's so angry," Serena said.

"So do I," Darien groaned, "look, Serena, I've got to get going or I'll be in deep trouble with work. Just tell the others for me as soon as you can?"

"I will, Darien," Serena said, "when will you be off?"

"I may have to work later," Darien groaned.

"Call me, all right?"

"Of course," Darien said softly. "Thanks, Serena."

"You bet," Serena said, "I love you, Darien."

"I love you too."

After hanging up, Serena didn't waste any time. She called the scouts immediately and told them to drop what they were doing and head to Raye's temple for a meeting.

"Thanks for coming, guys," Serena said once the gang made it to Raye's temple.

"Sounded important," Lita stated.

"It is," Serena nodded, "Darien told me more about his dream. Everything was still fuzzy but he was able to communicate with Stratus' reincarnation." Serena groaned and shook her head. "It didn't' go well. Darien said he was very angry. Stratus told him to leave him alone."

"Why do you think he said that?" Mina asked softly.

"I'm not sure," Serena answered, "I guess he didn't expect Darien to try reaching out to him. It must've scared him. Darien didn't tell me much. He had to get to work."

"So if Stratus' reincarnation is angry," Trista said, "then he must be producing thunderstorms and tornadoes."

"He can affect the weather that strongly without meaning to?" Raye asked, surprised. "Not even knowing?"

"If Stratus is beginning to awaken," Trista explained, "then whatever mood he is in the weather changes. Feelings of fright produce cold winds, excitement warm ones. Happiness causes clouds to disperse and the sun shine. Confusion makes the weather change quickly, sunny to cloudy and back again. Blizzards are a result of feelings of coldness and bitterness."

"I see," stated Ami, "I can search the world for severe storms."

"Keep in mind he may be only angry when Darien was talking to him," advised Trista, "we don't know if he's generally happy or angry or scared. You have to search the world for all sorts of weather that changes dramatically. This may take time."

"What if we don't have time?" Mina wondered. "What if Stratus is in trouble?"

"I just hope he isn't," Trista sighed, "we must do all we can."

"We'll help Ami research," Lita volunteered.

"What timeframe should I look at?" Ami asked. "For the weather, I mean. Last week's weather, a month?"

"Look at the daily weather for the previous three months, just to be safe," Trista answered. "We do know for certain if Stratus has been having the dreams as long as Darien has or not."

"I can do fire readings," Raye said.

"Every little bit helps," Michelle said.

"Start immediately," Trista ordered. "We really don't have time to waste."

"Right!" the girls said and they split off.

Sailor Pluto spent returned to the Gates of Time to look for Stratus' Chorological Marker. It was the energy and part of the aura radiated from every person which only the Soldier of Time could see. She could use this to keep an eye on the scouts and other people in the world. She opened the Gats of time during the time of the Silver Millennium to see his Chronological Marker and to review his powers once again.

"Dark blue symbol of Earth," she whispered, "now all I have to do is find it in another time and place."

Looking for it again through the time stream wasn't an easy task. There were so many overlapping auras, so many different spots of time. Where could be be? Stratus' marker kept changing from dark blue, to light gray and to brown, making it even more difficult for her to get a lock on his marker.

Serena, Mina, Lita and Ami spent every spare moment they had at the library searching news papers and the internet for global weather for the past three months. The librarian gave the girls an inquisitive look when they asked for the weather sections of international newspapers.

"International Newspapers?" she said. "What for?"

"Um," Serena mumbled, looking at the others for help.

"Well, you see," Lita murmured, "er…"

"We're doing a school project on global weather for the past three months," Ami stated.

"I see," said the librarian, "well I think we may have some. I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks," Serena said, "we'll be at that table over there." Serena indicated a nearby table and the librarian left.

While the librarian was searching for their supply of international newspapers, Ami was browsing the internet and the other girls were reading books on weather.

"I feel like I'm in school," Serena mumbled.

"Yeah, good thing this is our last year of High School, huh?" Lita asked.

"Then it's off to college," Mina said, "I think I'll go to Beauty School."

"It's kind of interesting how the weather changes and everything," Lita stated as she turned the page of her book. "But how is this going to help us find Stratus?"

"I don't know," Mina sighed.

"We've got to remember to watch the news tonight," Serena said, "and see if there's anything about the weather. I think I'll disguise myself as a weather girl and go to the news."

"News girl Serena," Lita joked, "now there's a job for you."

"Here are the only international newspapers I could find," said the librarian. She placed the newspapers on the table and walked away.

"Thanks," said Serena and she pulled them near her. "Right, let's see what's going around the world. Hey, this is in Russian! And this is in English! How am I supposed to read this?"

"Maybe asking for international newspapers wasn't such a good idea," Mina groaned.

"Hey, some have pictures," Lita said, "right, here's the map of the US. Sunny in Florida, dry in Texas…"

"Tornadoes in Kansas," Serena said, pointing at the little tornado in Kansas. "Darien said Stratus is angry and Stratus' anger causes tornadoes."

"But how would we know if that's normal or if Stratus is really there?" Lita asked. "Kansas is one of the states in Tornado Alley."

"Well, let's just make a note of it and come back later," Mina said, writing "Kansas" and "Tornadoes" on a piece of paper.

After a few moments of looking at the newspapers, Serena left Mina and Lita to look at them alone and she went to Ami's computer.

"How's it going, Ami?" she asked, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"I've just finished looking at the weather for Japan," Ami answered, "it has been normal. Summer was hot and humid so Trista was right. Stratus didn't come anywhere in Japan. He can't be here."

"What are you looking at now?" Serena asked, glancing at the monitor. "China?"

"Yes," Ami replied, scrolling down. "I'm going to check all of the Eastern part of world and work my way into the west."

"Good idea, it's not too far. It's still part of Asia."

"So if he is in China or the Philippines," Ami said hopefully, "we'll find him quickly."

"And if he's not?"

"This may take weeks," Ami said with a sigh.

"Great," Serena moaned and she went back to the table where Lita and Mina were. Tired of looking at international newspapers and not being able to understand the words, Serena left Lita and Mina at it and she went to check out all the books she could find on dreams and dream interpretation.

"Maybe I can help Darien with his dreams," Serena whispered as she set down with the first book and started reading.

Raye did fire reading to look for Stratus and she saw Darien's dreams through Stratus' point of view. It was very strange to look at her hands and see that they were not her own. Though her fire readings helped her understand Darien's dreams more, it did not give her a clue on Stratus' whereabouts. She sensed, however that when they found Stratus that they may need to fight again.

"This is pointless," Raye muttered, pausing from looking into the fire. "How is this going to help me find out where Stratus is?"

She sighed, recorded what happened in a journal and went back to fire reading. She couldn't stop trying. Perhaps seeing Stratus' dreams through his eyes was just the beginning to finding out where he was.

The search dragged on and on. The scouts were growing restless and Darien was very impatient. All he wanted to do was find his brother. It got harder for him to contact Stratus' reincarnation; he must've known he was trying and was resisting him somehow. When Serena wasn't at school, doing her homework or studying her books on dreams, she gave Darien as much as support as he needed. Serena felt so helpless in all of this. She hated seeing Darien look so upset.

Darien was grateful to Serena for being his rock. Once in a while she was able to drag him away for a bit of fresh air or sometimes they'd study about dreams together.

Weeks later, the scouts talked about their progress. Three weeks later the scouts met up at Raye's temple for a meeting.

"Stratus' marker is hard to close in on," Trista sighed, "it must be changing and it's overlapping with other Markers."

"Have you found any luck?" Amara asked Ami.

"I've started the Western Hemisphere," Ami said, "England has been having severe weather but the weather went back to normal in September."

"The weather is always so unreliable in England anyway," Mina said dismissively.

"That's true," Ami nodded, "But it couldn't be so unreliable if you have blizzards in the summer."

"What!" everyone exclaimed and Ami took out her notes.

"Near the end of June," Ami explained "it was rather dry all around England. Then in the first week of July for Surrey County weather was pretty still. A mixture or of cold and hot and no wind and hardly any clouds that lasted a couple of days." Ami looked at Trista. "What kind of feelings would cause weather like that?"

"Hmm," said Trista, thinking hard, "he hasn't caused weather like this but it sounds like shock to me."

"Shock?" Serena gasped. "From what?"

"We don't know," Lita said, "but I bet you it's something big."

"You said something about blizzards," Mina prompted, "when was that?"

"Right, that was actually in August and it was in London."

"London?"

"Yes, the weather continued to get worse in Surrey for a while," Ami stated as she glanced at her notes. "Following the days of stillness, there were severe thunderstorms and tornadoes."

"No way," Serena gasped, "he really is angry."

"The thirty-first of July however did have some pleasant weather, though it lasted for a couple of hours," Ami went on, "Then in the first week of August there was a very major storm then everything went to normal. The weather started acting up again, but not in Surrey but in London. After the thunderstorms there was very rainy weather. It rained for days straight and then the rain turned into snow."

"Shock, anger and depression," Mina whispered, "I wonder what happened to him to make him feel this way."

"Let's go to London and find out then!" Serena announced, turning around.

"Wait, not so fast!" Ami called. "The weather went back to normal on September first so Stratus can't be in London anymore!"

"What?"

"Stratus is moving. He was in Surrey England first, then to London and now he can be anywhere."

"Great, a dead end," Mina moaned.

"I still have the Americas to search," Ami said quickly. "So he may be there. I'm getting close."

"How about Raye?" Serena asked. "Has she been finding anything?"

"I don't know," Lita said, "she's still doing fire readings. I bet she doesn't leave that fire except for school."

"Let's see if we can get her out of it," Serena said as she walked up the stairs. "This is urgent."

The girls entered the room of the great sacred flame. Serena knelt beside Raye and shook her.

"Raye, wake up!" she exclaimed. "Tell us what you saw!"

Raye was still in a daze for a moment. Serena and the others snapped their fingers in front of her. They turned her away from the frame and Raye blinked.

"What the?"

"Raye!" Serena shouted.

"Serena, why did you interrupt me?" Raye demanded.

"Because you've been sitting in front of the fire for weeks and haven't told us a thing!" Serena retorted. "We've all explained what we found out, now it's your turn."

"I don't have much to tell you," Raye muttered as she slowly got to her feet.

"You don't?" Lita asked.

"All I saw was what Darien saw in his dreams," she replied, "but I was seeing them through Stratus' eyes. I saw the Earth a thousand years ago and the things Prince Endymion and Prince Stratus did."

"You couldn't tell where Stratus might be now?" Mina asked sadly.

"No, I'm sorry," Raye moaned, "I tried and as I was doing these readings, I got the distinct feeling that once we find Stratus we may need to fight again."

"Then—then maybe Stratus is in danger!" Serene exclaimed.

"We don't know that for sure," Amara said optimistically.

"I've got to go tell Darien about this," Serena said, "just keep trying everyone. The minute you find anything to help us, call me."

Serena spent as much time as she could with Darien to offer her support. He was loosing patience. All he wanted to do was to find his brother. He sensed that he was in danger as the dreams went on. His older brother instincts and feelings were kicking in and he was acting in a way the others have never seen him. Serena hoped the update would help.

"So Ami said she lost Stratus' signal?" Darien questioned edgily after Serena told him what she learned.

"She still has America to scan. Trista can't get a lock on Stratus either but we are close Darien, I can feel it."

"You said that Raye feels that we will have to fight again," Darien got up and went to the window as if expecting to see Stratus walk by.

"Yeah," Serena replied, "when we find Stratus."

"So, maybe my brother is in danger? How can we protect him if we can't find him?"

"Calm down, Darien," Serena said firmly. "We will find him. We're getting close."

"I can't calm down," Darien groaned, bounding the wall. "Stratus is angry about something. It can't just be me trying to reach him."

"What do you mean?" Serena asked as she came next to him.

"I'm not sure," Darien sighed, "but something must've caused him to feel so angry. You said that the weather was so crazy in England. Thunderstorms, blizzards? He's upset. And those days where there really was no weather? Trista said it might be shock, right?"

"That's what she says," Serena stated.

"There were few instances when the weather was like that in my dreams of him," Darien sighed, "Our dog died and there wasn't any weather for days. People got hurt in some wars and he didn't know how to take it. This must be happening again. Something bad has happened to him and he feels lost. I don't know what it could be. Maybe he lost someone very important to him. Maybe he does have enemies and he can't bring them down. I just feel so helpless. He won't let me through so I can talk to him.

"Oh, Darien," Serena wrapped her arms around Darien. "It'll be all right. Don't worry, we'll find him."

"When?"

"Soon, just try to be patient for a little longer," she said, "we're close. I can feel it."

"I hope you're right," Darien whispered as he tightened his arms around her. "Oh, Serena, I hope you're right."

To Be Continued